[kuz]

One thing is absolutely clear--from the first day she sets foot in Maples, she will have the best accent!  I wonder if any of you have lived in Australia--this accent seems softer than the stereotypical variety we Americans hear in the movies.  Are there regional differences in Australia?  She drops the Rs like almost all commonwealth people, but the Ls are really interesting.

Yep, there are regional differences in Australian accents. I'm from Melbourne, same as Alanna, and judging by that interview of her, we have pretty much the same accent. Over here in the US, I get mistaken for having a British accent all the time, as my Aussie accent seems so much milder than what most Americans would expect. It doesn't help that my housemate is also Australian, but has a more rural accent that's extremely broad (and in fact so broad that a lot of the time, very few people can understand what he's saying).

[kuz]

One thing is absolutely clear--from the first day she sets foot in Maples, she will have the best accent!  I wonder if any of you have lived in Australia--this accent seems softer than the stereotypical variety we Americans hear in the movies.  Are there regional differences in Australia?  She drops the Rs like almost all commonwealth people, but the Ls are really interesting.

Yep, there are regional differences in Australian accents. I'm from Melbourne, same as Alanna, and judging by that interview of her, we have pretty much the same accent. Over here in the US, I get mistaken for having a British accent all the time, as my Aussie accent seems so much milder than what most Americans would expect. It doesn't help that my housemate is also Australian, but has a more rural accent that's extremely broad (and in fact so broad that a lot of the time, very few people can understand what he's saying).